Is there any AVR-like device without speaker outputs to complement a projector?
Hello. Many TVs nowadays have some capabilities of receiving multiple (HDMI) inputs, selecting one of them, displaying, outputting audio somewhere, etc. This is not true about projectors though (at least the ones that cost up to $2000). I'm really struggling with this issue.
In the past, I just had an AppleTV which was streaming audio via airplay to a soundbar on the opposite side of the room. Now I also have a game console, and together with the AppleTV, it is connected to a cheap HDMI switcher. Then the switcher outputs a selected input to a projector and also extracts digital audio which is transferred across the whole room to a soundbar with a Toslink cable. While this kind of works, it's a PITA to control everything, as the switch won't transfer CEC commands, the soundbar IR port is not in clear view, there is no on-screen feedback about the volume adjustments or sound preset changes, etc… In addition, if I want to use some Bluetooth headphones I need to connect them directly to the input devices (and the gaming console has no way of doing that).
A natural solution to this would be an AV receiver, however, there are few things that don't make sense for me with all the audio amplification + speaker outputs:
1. I have no way of making a proper 5.1 setup as currently everything works in a living room and just the pure geometry of the room does not allow some reasonable speakers on the sides (in the back). 2. I don't see a reason why I should drag 6-8 copper cables across the room when the same data can be transferred with an optical or an HDMI cable (and yes, I have power sockets on the other side of the room). 3. AV receivers are huge and ugly. Yeah, sorry this is a stupid argument. But such devices simply do not "feel" like what should go into my setup. You can compare this to an AppleTV with two HomePods and Dolby atmos. I know that this will never be as good as the "proper setup," but it's definitely better than a built-in projector speaker, and it's even better than just 2 speakers, and you don't have to drag wires across the room. Similarly speaking, my HDMI switcher is tiny, and I imagine that if you add some brain to it, and maybe more inputs, and outputs it will grow to 4-6 times its size. But it will be still a slick box that selects which inputs go to which outputs with some presets and so on. Instead, all the receivers are these huge devices with two knobs and an ugly LCD display and radio antennas…
Anyway, if you read until this point I'm already grateful for your time. I know that such a product may not exist. But I hoped that maybe the projector community knows some things that others don't.